Hello,
My beagle, Pooka, has recently been biting and itching his tail and rump area. I at first thought it was fleas because I found some on him and they had also been eating me alive (he sleeps in my bed). So I de-flead him; but after about a week or two it still continued. I still thought it was fleas so I gave him another flea bath. Which seems to have gotton rid of the fleas, but he still bites at it.
Also he has just recently begun to experience hairloss fromm where he's been biting (which kind of makes sense 'cause he's REALLY biting it). And it wasn't until now that there has been any scabs or redness on the areas that he has been biting at. Which is why I thought it was fleas, but I do not think that's what it is now. He also has a funky odor emmitting from the area, which is making me think that it's some kind of bacterial infection. I'm giving him some soothing cream for it and I'm going to see if that helps, but if it gets worse I'm definately taking him to the vet.
Anyway, if antbody has ANY idea at ALL, I would really appriciate it.

Lucky Rescue

December 5th, 2005, 09:22 PM

but if it gets worse I'm definately taking him to the vet.

Considering the hairloss, biting, scabs and "funky odour", I don't know how much worse it can get before you take your dog to the vet. He needs to go yesterday.

What kind of "soothing cream" are you using?

He could have a flea allergy, which may have become infected by now from the biting. What kind of flea meds did you use?

mona_b

December 5th, 2005, 10:31 PM

Ditto on what LR said.

Also,you de-flead him,but what about the carpets,bedding and everything else in the house?That needs to be taken care of also as the fleas are still around and will continue to bite you and your dog.

SunGurl372

December 6th, 2005, 09:18 AM

My Harley has horrid flea allergies, and the first place it affected her was on her rump just above the tail. She was constantly worrying at it, and lost hair in clumps in that area.

In her case, she must stay on a topical flea medication (we use Frontline) at all times. Her vet says as little as one bite can set off her allergies. After starting her on the Frontline, it still took a while for the itching to subside. She had to be on a allergy medication (Atarax) for a month or so to keep it somewhat manageable.

prowlingpanther

December 6th, 2005, 10:15 AM

Thank you for your responses.

To answer your questions, yes I did de-flea the beddings and house. He is on advanced care topical flea medicine and I just started using this soothing wound cream that's suppose to help with bacterial infections and relieves itching, but he's not been on it long enough to see a difference.
And as to why I've not taken him to the vet yet, now this is NOT an excuse or anything, but our other dog has recently been diagnosed with glaucoma and he also has heartworms, which he just now finished the treatment. So we have kind of been focusing on him, to make sure his eye isn't getting worse. If you have any input on that, I'd really appriciate as well.
Anyway, he's had an itchy back for awhile. In fact I think we got him, but it's never been this bad. and when we took him to the vet a few weeks ago they didn't say anything about it. Thay looked at it, but he was mainly there to be tested for heartworm (which he doen't have thank GODhttp://www.pets.ca/forum/images/smilies/angel.gif)

Beaglemom

December 6th, 2005, 10:29 AM

Fleas can be very difficult to get rid of once they enter your home. The reason is mainly because of their life cycle. Those little critters lay their eggs which fall into cracks in hardwood flooring, carpet, bedding, just about everywhere. They also don't all hatch at the same time as the female fleas are always laying eggs. One female flea can produce an enormous amount of eggs in her lifetime (hundreds!). Eggs can also lay dormant up to a couple of weeks.

Here's a website that describes the life cycle of a flea:
http://www.fleasmart.com/life.htm
http://www.4fleas.com/lifecycle.htm

If you are treating your home with over the counter flea products, you are going to have to do the treatments every week as they don't target every life cycle of the flea. That is one advantage of preventative flea products that you get from your vet as they target all life stages of the flea and prevent them from laying eggs.

I would strongly recommend that you take your dog into the vet asap. This could be a very bad flea allergy and will last for quite a while as one bite can cause a lot of itchiness and stress.

If he is suffering from a bacterial skin infection, then over the counter creams may not help him at all. He may need to take oral antibiotics. My beagle is currently being treated for a bacterial skin infection. It was mostly on her belly with a bit on her legs. She didn't suffer hair loss, but she was extremely itchy. The meds have helped greatly and all her sores are pretty much healed.

prowlingpanther

December 6th, 2005, 03:58 PM

Thank you.
Yeah, I know fleas suck. What I don't get is that if it's fleas wouldn't they bite everyone? We don't have any flea bites nor do are cats,so?,I don't know.
Anyway, as soon as I can get a hold of my mom I'm going to take him to the vet.http://www.pets.ca/forum/images/smilies/sick.gif

Budworth

December 7th, 2005, 10:18 PM

Maybe it's not a flea problem? We had a dog that had a skin problem, itched but his patch was also flakey. His was on the end of his back by his tail. Got special shampoo from vet and it worked great. Also, another dog we have, had to have his anal gland drained, but he dragged his rear instead of scratched. Sometimes a pet type store, sometimes feed/ranch type stores, or even your vet, will carry shampoo for dogs with skin problems. It's over counter, no prescription from vet necessary.